Chris Kahn
Sun
Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin declared it a “magnificent first walk.”
HUALAPAI INDIAN RESERVATION, Ariz. — Native leaders and a former astronaut stepped gingerly beyond the Grand Canyon’s rim Tuesday, staring through the glass floor and into the 1,219-metre chasm during the opening ceremony for a new observation deck.
A few members of the Hualapai Indian Tribe, which allowed the Grand Canyon Skywalk to be built, hopped up and down on the horseshoe-shaped structure. At its edge — 21 metres beyond the rim — the group peeked over the glass wall.
“I can hear the glass cracking!” Hualapai Chairman Charlie Vaughn said playfully.
The Hualapai, whose reservation is about 145 kilometres west of Grand Canyon National Park, allowed Las Vegas developer David Jin to build the $30 million US Skywalk in hopes of creating a unique attraction on their side of the canyon.
“To me, I believe this is going to help us. We don’t get any help from the outside, so, why not?” said Dallas Quasula, 74, a tribal elder who was at the Skywalk. “This is going to be our bread and butter.”
For $25 plus other fees, up to 120 people at a time will be able to look down to the canyon floor 1,219 metres below — a vantage point more than twice as high as the world’s tallest buildings.
The Skywalk is scheduled to open to the public March 28.
To reach the transparent deck, tourists must drive on twisty, unpaved roads through rugged terrain. But the tribe hopes it becomes the centrepiece of a budding tourism industry that includes helicopter tours, river rafting, a cowboy town and a museum of Indian replica homes.
Robert Bravo, operations manager of the Hualapai tourist attractions called Grand Canyon West, said he hopes the Skywalk will double tourist traffic to the reservation this year, from about 300,000 visitors to about 600,000. In later years, he hopes it brings in about one million tourists.
“It’s a great feeling today. Once everybody sees this, and it’s televised, they’re going to know to come here,” Bravo said.
Architect Mark Johnson said the Skywalk can support the weight of a few hundred people and will withstand wind up to 160 km/h. The observation deck has a 76-millimetre-thick glass bottom and has been equipped with shock absorbers to keep it from bouncing like a diving board as people walk on it.
The Skywalk has sparked debate on and off the reservation. Many Hualapai (pronounced WALL-uh-pie) worry about disturbing nearby burial sites, and environmentalists have accused the tribe of transforming the majestic canyon into a tourist trap.
Hualapai leaders say they weighed those concerns for years before agreeing to build the Skywalk. With a third of the tribe’s 2,200 members living in poverty, the tribal government decided it needs the tourism dollars.
Construction crews spent two years building the walkway. They drilled steel anchors 14 metres into the limestone rim to hold the deck in place. Earlier this month, they welded the Skywalk to the anchors after pushing it past the edge using four tractor trailers and an elaborate system of pulleys.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
